Lada to sponsor Renault F1

The Lada name will appear on Renault Formula One cars this season as part of an agreement announced today.

Renault owns a 25 percent stake in Lada's parent company AvtoVaz - a Russian manufacturer - and has also signed Vitaly Petrov to drive one of its F1 cars this season. Russia is also tipped to hold a grand prix in Moscow again sometime in the future.

The sponsorship deal is part of a move to raise awareness of F1 in the country, and has been endorsed by Prime Minister Vladamir Putin who met with Renault F1 officials earlier this week.